Sunday, February 27, 2011

Steve Curley enjoyed another successful February day at the Gasparilla Distance Classic in Florida. Last year Curley won the Gasparilla Half-Marathon in a 1:11:47 course record. Saturday, competing in the 15K, he came home 5th in 48:23. Here are the top finishers from the race.

Stephanie Schappert's (Boca Raton, FL) recent signing with Villanova was dubbed in this blog "Stephanie Makes Three" -- referring to her All-American sister Nicole and her All-American father Ken who preceded her on the track at Villanova. The truth is that Stephanie will make the fourth in the family to compete at a high level for Villanova athletics. Her mother Jane (nee Ackerman), shown above at Stephanie's letter-of-intent signing ceremony earlier in February, competed for Villanova in the late 1970s and was the first Villanova women to earn All-American honors. As a high school All-American swimmer at Cardinal Newman High School in West Palm Beach, Florida, Jane Ackerman was named to the 1973 Girls High School All American team for her prowess in the 100 yard breaststroke; in that year she had the second fastest time in the United States. She won three straight Florida state championships in the 100 breaststroke in 1971, 1972, and 1973.

Friday, February 25, 2011

The USATF indoor championships will be help this weekend in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Frances Koons will compete in the mile. The women's mile is scheduled for Sunday at 3:20 mountain (5:30 eastern) time. Here is the declared list for the event.

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Former Villanovan Richie Corcoran came second in the 3000 meters at the Irish Indoor championships last weekend in Dublin, running 8:08.96. Corcoran had recently set a new 3000 meter indoor PR on February 13th at the UK Indoor Championships, where he finished 8th in 8:08.54. In the Dublin meet John Coghlan, the son of Villanova legend Eamonn Coghlan, competed in the heats but DNF'd. Here are the results:

Sunday, February 20, 2011

Villanova's legendary Marty Liquori was recently inducted into the inaugural 3-person class of the Van Cortlandt Park Hall of Fame (along with Alberto Salazar and Matt Centrowitz). Here is the story from the New York Times

For Generations of Runners, the Ultimate TestBy DAVID GONZALEZ

The snow blanketing the Parade Grounds at Van Cortlandt Park lends the landscape a tone of pastoral tranquility, even if generations of schoolboy runners know better. To them, the scene is more like a battlefield temporarily stilled by nature.

The park’s cross-country course is legendary — a grueling stretch of wide flats and twisting trails that has tested up-and-coming high school and college runners for nearly a century.

“Van Cortlandt was the ultimate,” said Matt Centrowitz, an Olympian who began as a standout at his Manhattan high school in the early 1970s. “Kids would come from Massachusetts and Maryland. The point was, if you were a star in any state, you came to Vannie like a gunslinger. Guys came ready for war.”

On Friday, Mr. Centrowitz, who is now the head cross-country and track coach at American University, will become an inaugural member of the park’s new Cross Country Hall of Fame, along with the longtime sports commentator Marty Liquori and the three-time New York City Marathon winner Alberto Salazar. They will be inducted at a ceremony during the Millrose Games track meet at Madison Square Garden.

All three are Olympians and American record holders at 5,000 meters. And all got their earliest taste of hard-earned victory along Van Cortlandt’s rugged 2.5-mile high school course. The route started with a mad dash across the flats, then a jostle for position along a narrow cow path, looping through treacherous back hills and on to the final straightaway.

Although greater fame would await the three runners, Vannie’s thrill was unique.

“The excitement of going to Van Cortlandt, I don’t know if there is anything else to equal that,” said Mr. Liquori, 61, who went from setting course records while at Essex Catholic High School in Newark to a storied career at Villanova University and a rivalry with Jim Ryun.

“Even if you got to the Olympics, you developed the routine for handling stress at Van Cortlandt when you get off the bus and saw 10,000 kids there. You’re 15 years old, without a whole lot of belief in yourself thinking you’re going to be the 10,000th kid running that day. It was nerve-racking.”

Gene McCarthy, a member of the Van Cortlandt Park Conservancy, was hoping to recapture some of that excitement when he came up with the idea for the Hall of Fame. He had been a champion runner in the Bronx, at All Hallows High School and Fordham University. He recalls an era when quirky rebels dominated the sport, before it lost its edge to recreational road racers and strictly-business professionals.

“New York City has such a great running heritage,” he said. “We wanted to remind people where it came from.”

Not that Mr. Centrowitz needed any reminders of where his career started. He lived about a mile south of the park on Broadway, and attended Power Memorial Academy, a Catholic boys’ school near Lincoln Center that closed in 1984. Summers and weekends were spent in Van Cortlandt, running with his high school rivals and college heroes.

The course was a tough slog then, studded with roots and rocks. The start of a race unleashed a fury, with hundreds of runners swarming over the flats like a teenage production of “Lawrence of Arabia.”

“Vannie made city kids tougher,” said Mr. Centrowitz, who skill at running the 1500 meters earned him a spot on the American team in the 1976 and 1980 Olympics. “The rocks, the hills, the wind always in your face at the end.”

Mr. Liquori counts the course as among the most challenging anywhere, saying it set a standard for young runners hoping to be noticed by college scouts.

“It was the yardstick everybody on the East Coast could be judged by,” he said. “Unfortunately, if you were a kid who only ran it once in your junior or senior year, it was like only getting to take the SAT once. For some of us, there was a lot of pressure because this was where and how you got your college scholarships.”

In recent years, the conservancy and the city’s Department of Parks and Recreation have improved the course and nearby facilities. The course may not be as challenging as before, but it is still tougher than the suburban courses that now dominate the sport because coaches fear injuries to runners.

“I’ve seen championships held on gently rolling golf courses,” said Adrian Benepe, the city’s parks commissioner. “That’s not cross-country. It’s not cross-country until you’ve charged across that parade ground and into the hills.”

The sport’s boosters hope that this week’s Hall of Fame induction will help spur greater interest and support for cross-country, especially since the city now offers refurbished track-and-field sites like the Washington Heights Armory and Icahn Stadium, and will soon have an eight-lane indoor track on Staten Island.

There are already tens of thousands of runners, perhaps with gray hair and stiff knees, who trace their success in school and work to the rough-and-tumble discipline they learned pounding the hills at Vannie.

“That park made me,” said Mr. Centrowitz, who will turn 56 on Friday. “We caught the tail end of that great era for New York City, where kids learned to work hard, where blue-collar kids just mixed it up.”

The Villanova men's and women's teams each finished third at the 2011 Big East Indoor meet. It was the highest team placing for the men's squad in 9 years. The men were led by Big East champions Hugo Beamish (5000 meters), Mathew Mildenhall (3000 meters) and runner up placings by Matt Gibney (mile), Carlton Bowers (400 meters), Robert Sainvil (triple jump), the 4x400 relay, and the 4x800 relay. On the women's side, Sheila Reid defended her 1000 meter conference title, and anchored both the Distance Medley and 4 x 800 relay championship relays. Emily Lipari (mile), Shericka Ward (60 meter hurdles), and Christie Verdier (400 meters) were each conference runners-up.

Sheila Reid anchored the Villanova women's 4 x 800 meters relay team to a very tight victory today at the Big East indoor championships. The race came down to a sprint finish between Villanova's Sheila Reid and Connecticut's Heather Wilson. Reid was able to prevail, but by the razor margin of 6/100ths of a second. It was Reid's third conference title of the weekend (1000 meters, DMR, and 4 x 800). Villanova's time set a new facility record

The Villanova quartet of Emily Lipari (1200 meters), Ashley Dunbar (400 meters), Sheila Reid (800 meters) and Bogdana Mimic (1600 meters) won the conference championships title on Saturday in style, taking the race by over 5 seconds. Georgetown was second. Villanova's time broke the facility record by some 15 seconds, but did not match the 11:11.00 meet record set last year by the Villanova DMR team of Mimic-to-McDonald-to-Neutts-to-Schappert. It was Villanova's first DMR effort of the year for 2011.

Mathew Mildenhall captured the 3000 meter championship title today at the Big East Indoor Championships, running 8:19.76 in a tactical race. Hugo Beamish, who won the 5000 meter crown yesterday, came back in the 300o today to finish 6th, two seconds off the pace. The top 6 finishers were within two seconds of each other. Matt Kane was 19th in 8:33.06.

Two-time defending Big East indoor mile champion Matt Gibney lost a close race today to Notre Dame's Jeremy Rae, 4:08.01 to 4:08.37. Rae was 7th in last year's indoor Big East meet, won by Gibney in 4:09.99. Villanova freshman Sam McEntee was 6th in 4:10.61.

Sheila Reid waltzed to a 4-second victory over UConn's Leah Andrianos (see photo above) in the 1000 meters today at the Big East Indoor Championships. Her time was a meet and facility record of 2:43.70. Kelly McElroy was 6th in 2:54.25, adding 3 more points to the Villanova women's team total.

Saturday, February 19, 2011

Hugo Beamish defeated Providence's Irish ace David McCarthy over 5000 meters today at the Big East indoor championships in Akron, Ohio. Beamish and McCarthy battled over the final laps, with Beamish finishing in 14:16.11 to McCarthy's 14:17.54. Brian Long came 4th in 14:20.45, Matt Kane was 12th in 14:37.44, and Greg Morrin was 19th in 15:08.32.

Friday, February 18, 2011

Eamonn Coghlan's comments have the potential to reignite tensions between the OCI and the Sports Council.By Cliona FoleyThe Independent

Friday February 18 2011

EAMONN Coghlan has lashed the Olympic Council of Ireland's (OCI) decision to insist on 'A' standards only for next year's London Games, describing it as "an injustice".

The three-time Olympian and former world champion believes the OCI should accept the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) standards and says the proximity of London 2012 only increases the reasons for Ireland to send athletes with a 'B' standard.

"If the IAAF, and the international Olympic committee, are accepting 'B' standards and we in Ireland are saying 'A standards only', well personally I don't agree with that," Coghlan said.

"There was a U-turn done (to accept the 'B' standard) before Beijing for one or two individuals but not for one or two others. That was a political decision I think, that came down to two individuals, one in the Olympic Council and the other in government."

As Coghlan chairs the Sports Council's High Performance sub-committee, his comments have the potential to reignite the tensions that have previously existed between the OCI and the Sports Council.

But he stressed that he was speaking in a private capacity, saying "this is my personal view, this issue has not come up at the High Performance Committee whatsoever.

"There are very few in Ireland who are ever going to win an Olympic gold medal, so why only pick athletes who have that potential?" he said. "If an athlete has achieved the best 'B' standard in Ireland then they should go.

"The cost of sending (athletes) to London, compared with Beijing, is relatively little and we want to inspire, encourage and motivate the kids coming through the sport, not turn them off."

That the Sports Council's own standards have toughened was underlined by yesterday's individual grant announcements, which saw several prominent athletes dropped or relegated because they did not meet pre-agreed targets last year.

Those on the top level of funding (€40,000) have now been rechristened as 'podium athletes' and Coghlan made no apology for this onerous new title, saying: "Podium is the expectation. If this amount of money is invested in an athlete, year after year, then you expect them to deliver."

Roisin McGettigan, Alistair Cragg, Martin Fagan, Joanne Cuddihy, Mark Kenneally and Eileen O'Keeffe have all been dropped off the scheme, while Mary Cullen's funding has dropped from €20,000 to €12,000.

But Coghlan said that, as with all sports, athletes can return to the scheme, or change levels, during the season, once they meet their targets.

Robert Heffernan is the only athlete who has moved up to 'podium' status and in other sports, swimmer Grainne Murphy, cyclist Daniel Martin, paracyclist Mark Rohan and boxers Darren O'Neill, Eric Donovan and Tyrone McCullagh are among those who have made a similar leap.

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Villanova’s Sheila Reid Adds D-I Scholar Athlete of the Year to 2010 Cross Country Scrapbook

Tom Lewis, USTFCCCAFebruary 15, 2011

NEW ORLEANS – Sheila Reid of Villanova University was named the USTFCCCA NCAA Division I Women’s Scholar Athlete of the Year for the 2010 cross country season on Tuesday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA). Reid was the individual national champion at the 2010 NCAA Cross Country Championships in the fall and led the Wildcats to a team national title as well.

Scholar Athletes are determined from among those who earned All-Academic status and placed highest individually at the most recent NCAA Championships.

Reid, a senior from Newmarket, Ontario, not only won her first NCAA national cross country crown in the fall, but she also led the Wildcats of Villanova to their second-straight, and eighth overall, NCAA team title.

Reid has earned a 3.37 cumulative GPA and majors in English.

At the NCAA meet, with a 20:06.9 run in the 6k race, she topped Georgetown’s Emily Infeld by just over two seconds in the closest finish in NCAA women’s Division I history. Reid was also the first since Villanova’s Jennifer Rhines to win the individual NCAA title while leading their team to victory. Reid also won the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional by 16 seconds to win a second-consecutive region title. Reid was also this year’s Big East Conference champion and a winner at the Penn State National. In addition, Villanova's Amanda Marino (an English major with a 3.25 GPA) and Ali Smith (a 3.47 GPA in Communication) were named to the Division I Cross Country All-Academic Honor Roll. On the men's side, Hugo Beamish (3.71 GPA in Civil Engineering), Brian Long (3.31 GPA in Finance), and Mathew Mildenhall (3.44 GPA in Marketing) were also named to the All-Academic Honor Roll.

Monday, February 14, 2011

Matt Gibney's weekend dip under 4:00 has been noticed in his native Australia. Click the title of this post to go to the Runnerstribe website's story about the new cohort of top Aussie milers. Runnerstribe.com is the #1 athletics website in Australia.

The Big East indoor championships are on the horizon for this upcoming weekend and Villanova has a very large contingent of athletes already qualified for the meet. Additional late qualifiying time may be attained by some at Wednesday's Haverford meet. But, as of today, here are Villanova's conference championship meet automatic qualifiers.

Listed below are VU's qualifiers by distance/event, with their best qualifying time, their Big East performance list ranking, and their NCAA performance list ranking (if in top 50).

Saturday, February 12, 2011

Mathew Mildenhall won his 3000 meter heat, taking over the lead with about 500 meters to go and pulling away from a quality field. His time of 7:57.40 fell just short of the NCAA automatic qualifying time (7:54.50). He sat in 7th or 8th through 2000 meters and then moved up steadily and took the lead for good at about 500 meters to go. Overall, Mildenhall finished 18th (13th among the collegiate runners) among the 122 competitors at the distance.

Matt Gibney was in the top heat of the mile today in Seattle and the fast pace paid off. Gibney finished fourth in the heat, won by Chris Solinsky in 3:54.43, but broke the 4:00 mile for the first time, running 3:58.12. Gibney stayed near the back of the pack in about 8th or 9th place until about 300 meters to go and then picked off one runner after another to finish fourth. His time is an NCAA automatic qualifier.

Friday, February 11, 2011

The Washington Husky Classic got off to a big bang for the Villanova men tonight as Hugo Beamish smashed past the 14:00 barrier in the 5000, winning his section in 13:51.60, and finishing 10th overall of 88 competitors. Beamish's best 5000 prior to tonight's effort was his 14:05.25 at last year's Big East outdoor championships. He made short work of that time and came close to the NCAA auto qualifier of 13:47.00. The night was good for Brian Long as well. Long also broke 14:00 for the first time and set a new PR of 13:59.72, crushing his previous indoor best of 14:20.01. All that despite running the final 10 laps with only one shoe. Long finished 25th of 88 competitors. Here are (a) a post-race interview with Hugo and (b) the complete combined results of the numerous 5000 sections.

Marina Muncan surprised Carmen Douma-Hussar last weekend at the New Balance Grand Prix in Boston. She was back in Boston tonight at Boston U's Valentine Invite, where she went 2:05.75 and was the overall winner at 800 meters. Marina's outdoor PR for 800 meters is 2:02.86 (July 2009), but she hasn't seemed to have run an open 800 indoors since turning pro. Here's a list of top finishers from all sections in tonight's 800.

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Marcus O'Sullivan is sending five of his top distance men to this weekend's Husky Classic at the University of Washington in Seattle. Hugo Beamish and Brian Long are declared in the 5000 in a heat that includes Solomon Haile, Mohamud Ige, Ahmed Osman, Danny Mercado and other top national figures. Mathew Mildenhall will compete in the 3000 in a heat that features Trevor Dunbar, Hassan Mead, and Justin Harbor. Solomon Haile is declared in the 5000 as well, but will have to choose between the 5 and the 3. Perhaps most interesting are the possibilities in the mile. Carl Mackenzie and Matt Gibney are both declared. Mackenzie has a sub 4:01 PR for the mile and will be in heat 7 along with such competitors as Alex Hatz, Julius Bor, and pro runner Jordan Horn. In heat 8 of the mile, Matt Gibney is scheduled to go against USA 10,000 meter record holder and sub 13:00 5000 meter man Chris Solinsky, Mac Fleet, AJ Acosta, and others. Mackenzie and Gibney are both looking to join the ranks of sub 4:00 milers. Both Mackenzie (3:41.99 in May 2010 at Swarthmore) and Gibney (3:40.58 in May 2009 in the NCAA finals) have gone sub 3:42.2 for 1500, the metric equivalent of the feat, but neither has run under 4:00 in an open mile; Mackenzie just missed going sub 4:00 in 2008 when he ran 4:00.25 indoors at the Armory. Given the level of competition, both have a real chance to do so this weekend if their races go out smartly. At last year's Husky Classic, 13 men ran sub 4:00 miles, with Adrian Blincoe's 3:57.05 topping the list. The last two Villanovans to break 4:00 were Bobby Curtis and Michael Kerrigan in 2007 at the Swarthmore Last Chance meet.

Pope John Paul II high school's Stephanie Schappert, the daughter of former Villanova all-american Ken Schappert and sister of recent Villanova all-american Nicole Schappert, has signed a letter of intent to run for Villanova. Like Nicole in her day, Stephanie is a two-time Florida state champion in cross country. She is pictured above at the signing ceremony seated with her mother Jane. Her coaches are, standing from left to right, Nate Robinson, Jill Anderson, and Kevin Brown. Here are some excerpts from an article from the Sun Sentinal in Palm Beach discussing the signing.

Pope John Paul II's Stephanie Schappert, Palm Beach County's other dominant distance runner of the past four years, signed Wednesday with Villanova. Schappert, who has won multiple state titles in cross country and track, committed in October to follow the lead of older sister Nicole, who ran on Villanova's NCAA champion cross country team in 2009.

Schappert is also going to a program with a tradition of excellence in distance running. The Villanova women repeated as NCAA cross country champions in 2010, winning their ninth national title.

The program has produced numerous champions including the great miler Marty Liquori, who was a contemporary of Prefontaine.

"I'm so excited about starting a new career at Villanova," Schappert said recently. "I'm going to a great team with a history of track and field like no other school in the country."

For years, Emily Lipari toiled through workouts alone, or sometimes with her older brother, Tom, or some members of the boys team at Roslyn.

She couldn’t wait for a training partner that could push her finally. The Villanova freshman surely got one. So far this track season, Lipari has been chasing senior Shelia Reid through practice, the NCAA national cross country champion.

“Obviously, I have so much respect for her,” Lipari said. “But it’s also like, ‘Oh my God, I’m training with Shelia Reid. How am I training with Shelia Reid? She’s like the best there is out there.’”

Lipari, a former star distance runner at Roslyn, has been an favorite at the New Balance Armory, where she will return Saturday for the championship women’s mile [she finished 6th in 4:47.54]. She has competed at both Collegiate Saturday night meets, first winning the 1,000 in 2:49.06 on Jan. 16. Then she finished second in the mile last Saturday in 4:47.03.

But so far her biggest accomplishment is making the top five on Villanova’s national championship cross country team.

“Being part of a national championship team is something more than I’ve ever dreamed,” Lipari said. “I just can’t really put it into words. It’s going to be a memory that I remember for the rest of my life. My coach is amazing and I feel like I wouldn’t have been able to do it if I had a different coach. I’ve just done really well with her and the girls are really tremendous to look up to.”

The Wildcats had to wait for the results to be tallied even after their top four runners had scored just 22 points. Lipari finished 69th in the scoring (94th overall).

“It was really stressful,” the freshman said. “I hadn’t been nervous for a race in so long and I’m lining up in Terre Haute (Ind.) and I’m looking across the line and I see all these people and all these teams and I’m like, ‘Whoa.’ The gun goes off and I was swallowed by people. I’m so not used to that. I took me forever to break out of the pack and nationals and once I finally it it was kind of too late.

“If I could go back and do that race differently, I would like to. But I finished and I saw that Shelia won and I was so happy.”

Villanova coach Gina Procaccio said she expected, given Lipari’s big race experience, that she would contribute right away.

“She’s great,” Procaccio said. “I know, for her, she didn’t’ want to go to a program where she was going to be by herself. She wanted to run with someone else. She’s embraced the program.”

For Lipari, her biggest adjustment to college life is that she actually at free time on her hands. While competing in high school, Lipari also competed for her a travel soccer team and would often be going from class to track practice and then rushing off to soccer practice before going home to tackle her homework.

Now she does most of her running trying to chase around Reid.

“I spent a very long time getting my butt kicked,” Lipari said. “But that’s the type of program I wanted to go into. I know it’s just going to make me better and I’m looking at the long-term picture. “

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

New Jersey state cross country champion Megan Venables, who last season shattered course records at Holmdel Park and Belmont Plateau, will join Gina Procaccio's squad in fall 2011. Venables spent most of last season as the #2 ranked harrier in the MileSplit national rankings (behind only Aisling Cuffe). At the Briarwood Invitational at Belmont Plateau in Philadelphia on November 18, Venables destroyed the 9-year-old course record by a stunning 47 seconds, running 17:36.4 -- the only female harrier ever to break 18:00 on the course. Venables then won the New Jersey state meet at Holmdel, crushing the 27-year-old course record by 7 seconds. She followed that by finishing 4th at the Footlocker Northeast Regional, qualifying for the national championship race in San Diego. At Footlocker nationals Megan finished 5th overall, 42 seconds behind Cuffe. Her momentum from the cross country season has evidently been transferred into the indoor season as Venables today set a new PR for 1600i, running 5:06.92 at a meet in Toms River.Megan's other PRs are 11:25.09 for two miles, 9:45.83 for 3000 meters, and 17:22.84 for 5000 meters.

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Rob Denault, the 17-year old Canadian from Aurora, Ontario with PRs of 3:45.87 for 1500 meters and 8:31.95 for 3000 (pictured center, above), has picked Villanova over Penn State, Guelph and McMaster universities. He signed a letter-of-intent on national signing day. Denault is the two-time defending Ontario scholastic 1500 champion, and the Canadian U-17 1500 meter record holder. After finishing second at the Ontario scholastic cross country championships early in November of last year, on November 27th, Denault finished third at the Canadian junior cross country championships, thereby making the national junior team. According to the story below, special credit goes to fellow Canadian (and fellow Newmarket-eer) Sheila Reid for pushing Denault over the hump for Villanova.

Middle man Denault makes strides for Villanova

Middle man Denault makes strides for Villanova. Aurora High School student and Newmarket Huskies Track Club member Rob Denault is expected to sign a scholarship package with the Villanova University Wildcats Wednesday, February 2. Rob Denault will be running after a third straight OFSAA gold medal in the 1,500 metres when the high school track and field season starts in the spring.The Aurora Eagles senior will do so knowing his next four years of running are secure.

A member of Canada's junior cross-country team, Denault is expected to sign a scholarship package with the Villanova University Wildcats Wednesday, ending a process that has seen the 17-year-old weigh offers from high-profile programs, notably Penn State in the United States and the University of Guelph and McMaster University in Ontario.

'But I made the decision best for my future. Penn State has a great program, but, at the end of the day, I thought Villanova 'was a better fit for me.'

"Ontario schools are doing a lot to keep athletes and that made my decision tougher," said Denault, who also competes for the Newmarket Huskies Track Club. "But I made the decision best for my future. Penn State has a great program, but, at the end of the day, I thought Villanova was a better fit for me."

A chance to train under head coach Marcus O'Sullivan, a five-time Olympian for Ireland and former world record holder in the 1,500, simplified his decision to make a verbal commitment earlier this month.

Denault, who will run middle distances during the track and field season and cross-country in the fall, follows in the footsteps of another Huskies graduate, Sheila Reid, the current NCAA women's cross-country champion.

"Sheila has had a great career and put me in contact with the school," said Denault, who set a Canadian youth age group record in the 1,500 last June in London. "A couple of months ago, I didn't know what I wanted. She showed me the program has a long legacy of Olympians, success and tradition. She started the process."

Denault is enrolled in the business school at Villanova, in Philadelphia, but is considering a career in marketing. He is anxious to get running.

"They're bringing in a new generation of runners and I'm happy to be part of it," he said.

"There is so much depth, but I think that's an environment I can thrive in. It can only make me better.

"If I can improve and grow, I think I can make an impact in two or three years."

It wasn't until he won the OFSAA gold medal in the 1,500 metres in June that Denault seriously considered the NCAA path.

"That's when I was starting to think about university and where I wanted to go," he said. "Before, I wasn't really running for a scholarship. It was more for fun and to see what happens."

Up next for Denault is the North American Central America and Caribbean (NACAC) cross-country championships in Trinidad next month as Canada vies for one of two berths at the world junior championships in March in Spain.

Saturday, February 5, 2011

At the Armory in New York City, graduate student Kelly McElroy (left), who ran for William & Mary as an undergrad, came 4th in the 1000 meters in 2:50.37, a Big East automatic qualifier. Her time is the second fastest on the team so far this season, trailing only Emily Lipari's 2:49.06 from January 15th. Shannon Browne (27th in 2:59.51), Nicky Akande (32nd in 3:02.39), and Kaitlyn O'Sullivan (36th in 3:06.76) also competed at that distance. Bogdana Mimic won the top-level 3000 meter "championship" race, also in a Big East auto qualifier, in 9:17.34 (a time 10 seconds slower than her 2010 indoor best). She was not pushed in the race, winning by almost 8 seconds. Callie Hogan was 11th in the race, in 10:03.93. Sarah Morrison ran in the 3000 "Eastern" race, and came second, in 10:03.48.Emily Lipari was 6th in the mile, in a time, 4:47.54, almost identical to her mile time last week, 4:47.03. Villanova signee Amanda Borroughs ran in the Junior Girls mile race, and finished 7th in 5:00.84.Recent Villanova graduate Ellen Dougherty ran in the open 1500 meter race and finished third, in 4:21.62.

Matt Kane ran an 8-second PR over 5000 meters at the New Balance Collegiate Invitational at the Armory. His time of 14:25.55 vaulted Kane (who finished 9th in the race) to the #2 time in the Big East (and NCAA #26) this indoor season. In the 1000 meters, Brian Tetreault ran 2:23.74, also the #2 time in the Big East, and #11 in the NCAA this season. Matt Wikler went 2:25.15 in the race, placing him #6 in the Big East and #20 in the NCAA. Tetreault's and Wickler's times are the top two 1000 meter marks on the squad so far this season.As mentioned below, freshman newcomer (he arrived at Villanova in January) Sam MacEntee made his Villanova debut in the mile. He finished in 4:09.84, giving Villanova seven milers (Gibney, Mildenhall, Mackenzie, Long, LoRusso, Tetreault, & McEntee) with PRs under 4:10. Finally, competing in Chester at the Widener Indor Invitational, freshman polevaulter Chris Dougherty cleared 14' 5.25" (4,40 m) to gain a Big East qualifier.

Frances Koons flirted with her 9:01.02 PR from 2007, coming up a bit short, but still ran her fastest indoor 3000 in four years today in Boston. As reflected in the results, the race broke into two distinct packs, with Koons leading home the chasers.

The top five women milers came home within 1.2 seconds at today's elite mile at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix at the Reggie Lewis Center in Boston. Former 'Cats Marina Muncan and Carmen Douma-Hussar led current Wildcat all-american Sheila Reid in the top three spots, with Reid setting a new indoor mile PR by 2.2 seconds. Reid took the lead off the slow pace in the final 200 meters, but was unable to hold off Muncan and Douma-Husaar. Muncan came from 4th place at the 1500 meter mark to win the race over the more heralded Douma-Hussar. Reid split 4:17.53 at the 1500 mark. Pending the rest of the weekend results, Reid's time puts her back atop the NCAA performance list at the mile. She also has the NCAA #1 time at 3000 meters.

After just one month on campus, Perth, Australia's Sam McEntee (bib 1525, above) made his Villanova debut this afternoon at the indoor mile at the New Balance Collegiate meet at New York's Armory. He ran 4:09.84 to finish 3rd in a tighly packed top threesome.

Friday, February 4, 2011

Tomorrow in San Diego Bobby Curtis will compete in the 12K men's USA Cross Country Championship race. He is seeking a spot on his third straight USA world XC team. Curtis finished 3rd in the 2009 race and 5th last year. The various races will be broadcast live over the internet, starting at 12:45 eastern time, at runnerspace.com. Just click the title of this post to be sent to the site. The men's 12K race is scheduled for 5:00 pm eastern time.

Thursday, February 3, 2011

Sheila Reid Named the Outstanding Amateur Athlete at Philadelphia Sportswriters BanquetVillanova senior was this year's cross country individual national champion

The latest honor for Villanova senior Sheila Reid is being named the Outstanding Amateur Athlete at the Philadelphia Sports Writers Association dinner on Monday night in Cherry Hill, N.J.

Jan. 31, 2011

CHERRY HILL, N.J. - At the 107th annual Philadelphia Sports Writers Association dinner tonight at the Crowne Plaza in Cherry Hill, N.J., Villanova senior track and cross country star Sheila Reid was honored as the association's Outstanding Amateur Athlete in recognition of her steadily growing list of career accolades. Reid is a six-time All-American who most recently won the 2010 cross country individual national championship while leading the Wildcats to their second consecutive team title. Villanova head coach Gina Procaccio also received a Special Achievement Award for the success of the Wildcats in both cross country and track over the past year.

Reid joins a memorable list of previous winners of the award which includes several Villanovans, notably Vicki Huber and Brian Westbrook among that group. This honor is the latest to be bestowed upon Reid, who is this year's winner of the Honda Award for cross country and was recently selected as the sports All-Area Performer of the Year by the Philadelphia Inquirer for her efforts both in competition and as an outstanding student-athlete.

At the NCAA Cross Country Championships this past fall, Reid won her first individual national championship and the Wildcats brought home their record ninth team trophy to finish off a season in which the team was the nation's unanimous top team from start to finish. Reid won four of the five races she entered during the year and has now been the individual winner eight times in her last 10 starts since the beginning of the 2009 campaign. Reid has been an All-American in cross country in each of the past two seasons.

Her efforts on the track have been just as impressive. During the 2010 indoor campaign, Reid earned All-America honors for a third place individual finish in the 3000 meters as well as for being a part of the Wildcats distance medley relay squad which placed fourth in the nation. This season, Reid is coming off a terrific performance in the 3000 meters this past weekend at the New York Armory. Her personal best time of 8:56.92 is the fastest in the nation this season by nearly five seconds and is more than four seconds faster than her time from last year's indoor national championships meet. Reid garnered her first outdoor track All-America honor last year as well by placing fourth in the 1500 meters.

In addition to her incredible success in competition, Reid epitomizes what it means to be a student-athlete. She is a three-time BIG EAST Academic All-Star and during the fall 2010 semester was one of 11 student-athletes at Villanova to register a perfect 4.0 GPA. The combination of Reid's success as an athlete and a student was a consideration for both the Honda Award and the Philadelphia Inquirer award.

For the second straight year, Procaccio accepted a Special Achievement Award recognizing the success of the Villanova women's cross country and track teams. The cross country squad has won the last two national championships by convincing margins and the team's nine titles all-time are four more than any other program has won. Procaccio has been chosen as the National Coach of the Year by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association in each of the past two seasons. In addition to consecutive national championships, the Wildcats have won the last two NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional titles and three straight BIG EAST championships.

Villanova also had a great year on the track in 2010, winning the BIG EAST team championship indoors and crowning numerous All-Americans during both the indoor and outdoor seasons. At the indoor NCAA Championships, the Wildcats had two individual All-Americans plus an All-American performance in the distance medley relay. The team featured two more individual All-Americans during the outdoor season.

The Philadelphia Sports Writers Association was founded on May 12, 1904. The first of what would become an annual Awards Dinner was held on February 15, 1905.